Thursday, March 17, 2011

Tragedy in Japan - I Blog While Obama Golfs

I'm 85 when life expectancy is now 78. I, like hundreds of millions of others watched just about every TV Channel cover these tragic days.

A Democrat and strong union supporter (I support unions also, but not unions ruled by radical unions bosses and their thugs) named Yvonne criticized me in an email today for blogging while Japan suffers. Maybe she didn't know how Obama with his huge staff reacted.

An interesting read, Yvonne.

Merle

Alexander's Essay – March 17, 2011

Reality CheckBIG Meltdowns Imperiling the U.S."If men of wisdom and knowledge, of moderation and temperance, of patience, fortitude and perseverance, of sobriety and true republican simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honour of the Supreme Being and the welfare of the commonwealth; if men possessed of these other excellent qualities are chosen to fill the seats of government, we may expect that our affairs will rest on a solid and permanent foundation." --Samuel AdamsThe surfeit of images documenting human suffering and destruction in Japan after the 11 March Tohoku Earthquake and resulting tsunami is dreadful. Though the estimated 10,000 dead in Japan pales in comparison to the more than 200,000 dead in the Haitian earthquake of January 2010, the implications of the unfolding crisis, and its consequences for the 1.5 million Japanese men, women and children now homeless is staggering. Complicating matters is that, as of this writing, almost one-third of Japan's energy production capability is disabled, which is to say that providing basic resources and services for all of Japan is increasingly difficult.

Additionally, the crisis has significant implications for critical U.S. national security objectives and operations in the region, including containment of North Korea and counterbalance to the rapidly growing Chinese deepwater naval threat.

Japan is a vital national security ally in Asia and host to several major U.S. military staging and support bases. Under the post-WWII Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, the U.S. is committed to providing Japan with maritime and ballistic missile defense and disaster response capabilities. In return, the U.S. maintains a major military presence for deployment in the region, including the Seventh Fleet based in Yokosuka, Air Force fighter squadrons at Misawa and Kadena and the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force at Okinawa. More than 35,000 uniformed military personnel and another 5,000 DoD employees compose U.S. forces in Japan.

All that notwithstanding, on the day of the disaster in Japan, Barack Hussein Obama responded with a golf outing (his 61st as president) followed by an evening hobnobbing with major donors and his media sycophants at the annual Gridiron Dinner. While horrifying images of the quake and tsunami were seen around the world, Obama kept to his schedule, unwilling to interrupt it long enough to support Japanese leadership via the basic gesture of a reassuring interview with its national news service, NHK. He did find time, however, to record a presidential address on "Women's History Month."

To be fair, Obama issued a brief statement through the White House communications office: "Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan... The friendship and alliance between our two nations is unshakeable..."

"UNSHAKEABLE"? Perhaps he meant to say, "The friendship and alliance between our two nations will never melt down..." Who could make this stuff up?

By contrast, recall, if you will, 8 January, the day Arizona Democrat Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was among those shot by a sociopath, who killed six others. As that event unfolded Obama's PR team released real-time photos of their boss looking very "presidential" in the White House Situation Room, the intelligence management center run by the National Security Council staff.

Apparently, the crisis in Japan offered no immediate opportunity to convert tragedy into political triumph as did the attack in Tucson, so his tee time took precedence.

In the days since the Tohoku Earthquake, Obama has agreed to several televised interviews, all with domestic TV stations in 2012 election battleground states. Oh, and he took time to fill out his March Madness brackets and share his NCAA tournament picks with an ESPN reporter and camera crew before he and the First Family are head off to sunny Rio de Janeiro for the weekend. (Sometimes it is hard to distinguish Obama's lifestyle from that of a lucky lotto winner, except that the lotto winner is spending his winnings, not taxpayer earnings.)

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About Me

Born on a farm between Congerville and Carlock, Il., graduated from Normal Commnity High School, served in Armed Services, graduated from Western Illinois University, Macomb, Il., Taught and was head Basketball Coach in High Schools for 5 years. Worked for a Fortune 500 Campany 8 years, 5 in management.
Opened my own business in 1964 with 2 employees in Peoria, opened multiple stores and offices in Central Illinois and sold out in 1992. My name still uses my name, Widmer Interiors, which was a division of my company which started selling filing systems and grew to $11 million in sales as a company similar to Staples.
At the age of 75, I was elected to the Peoria County board and served 3 complete terms,4 years as Board Vice-Chairman..
Tennis is my recreation and I have over 200 trophies all won between tne ages of 55-85.. I am married to Claire and have 2 lovely daughters from a previous marriage. My only son is deceased. I have 3 grandsons, one lovely daughter-in-law, one son-in-law and numours grandchildren and great-grand-children.
I have posted over 2500 blogs since 2004. Read, enjoy, or dis-agree but I stick to the facts to the best of my knowledge.